When Donald Trump first unveiled his plans for a new “gold card” visa in February 2025, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed that 200,000 people were eager to pay $1 million each for the privilege. More than a year later, the administration has approved only one unnamed individual.
Slow Start for the Gold Card Program
The Homeland Security program offers employment-based green cards in exchange for a $1 million “gift” to the U.S. government, regardless of the applicant’s merit. Businesses seeking visas for foreign employees must pay $2 million. A website for applications went live in December 2025, but over four months later, Lutnick told the House Committee on Appropriations that there are “hundreds in the queue” who have paid the $15,000 application fee—and only one person has been approved.
“This is a new program, and they’ve just set it up, and they wanted to make sure they did it perfectly,” Lutnick said during his testimony on Thursday. “It’s a DHS program done with a rigorous, rigorous vetting.”
How the Gold Card Works
Immigrants seeking lawful permanent status (green cards) currently face wait times of over three years and often get entangled in lengthy legal battles. The gold card allows wealthy foreigners to fast-track their way to U.S. residency. Anyone with $1 million can apply, which the administration considers proof of “exceptional business ability” for an employment-based visa. The application process does not require the money to come from the applicant’s own business or employment; it could be from a parent, family member, loan, or even cryptocurrency.
In contrast, traditional EB-1 and EB-2 visas are reserved for foreign workers with “extraordinary ability” or “outstanding” work in fields like medicine, arts, and sciences. Congress caps the number of these visas annually and allocates them on a first-come, first-served basis.
Legal Challenges
A federal lawsuit challenges the gold card program, arguing that it “prioritizes wealth over intellect or ability” and converts visas into an illegal revenue-generating scheme at the expense of law-abiding immigrants. The lawsuit is backed by a group of noncitizen doctors and researchers seeking lawful permanent status. Norm Eisen, co-founder of the Democracy Defenders Fund, which supports the litigation, said: “Forget ‘give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.’ Donald Trump’s maxim is ‘give us your money, your oligarchs and your privileged few’ when it comes to his Gold Card program that is illegal.”
Broader Immigration Context
The Trump administration is simultaneously moving aggressively to strip legal status from tens of thousands of immigrants and denaturalize citizens as part of its mass deportation campaign. The Department of Justice has identified 384 foreign-born Americans whose citizenship it wants to revoke, according to The New York Times. Meanwhile, Trump’s gold card promises “a direct path to Citizenship for all qualified and vetted people.”
The program’s website, trumpcard.gov, pledges to “unlock life in America” with legal U.S. residency “in record time” after a background check by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a $15,000 processing fee, and a $1 million payment. Companies sponsoring employees must pay $2 million, plus an annual maintenance fee of $20,000 and a 5% transfer fee each time they switch the visa to another employee. All applicants must still be eligible for lawful permanent resident status, and a visa must be available. Several countries have significant wait times of a year or longer, and the president has indefinitely shut down visa applications from dozens of countries.
“America’s opportunities accelerated,” the website states. “Unmatched Opportunities Await.”
